Child Aid Lilongwe, Malawi

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Child Aid Lilongwe, Malawi

Child Aid Lilongwe is based at Chiwamba, Traditional Authority Chimutu, 30 kilometres northeast of Lilongwe City. The project started operating in this area in October 2000.

The main objective of the program is to improve the health, food security, education and living conditions of 14,000 children in Chiwamba District. The project intends to achieve this through provision of pre-schools, reduction of preventable diseases, elimination of malnutrition, creation of income-generating activities and development of water and sanitary facilities. The project aims to improve the condition of children by involving their families in economic and social development activities.

The project has established various developmental activities for families to engage in and to improve their economic status. Families keep chickens and sell eggs to raise money to buy basic needs. Other families have started irrigation clubs, planting maize, tomatoes and cabbages - selling them to raise funds and consuming them to improve the nutrition value of food in their households. The project launched a loan revolving fund. Some members used the loans to fund viable income activities and have already paid back their loans. A Baking Club has been formed as another way of raising funds. The clubs bakes buns and sell them in the local community.

Local leaders and chiefs have been incorporated as leaders of income generating activities in their areas. This has motivated members of the community to participate in the project’s activities. Chiefs and local leaders help families select the types of income-generating activities to engage in that suits the local environment.

The project established a Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre where voluntary counselling and HIV/AIDS testing is conducted. A nurse is in charge of general health services offered by the Centre. Before the Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre was opened, people from Chiwamba community used to travel 30 kilometres to Lilongwe to get health services.

The project runs a Home Based Care program for the terminally ill patients. Home Based Caregivers are trained in patient care and drug management by the project. Home Based Care Givers are given Home Based Care Kits, bicycles and condoms to distribute to the community. The project conducts open days to sensitise the community about HIV/AIDS and how to stop the disease from spreading. The open days also teach communities against discriminating those who are HIV positive. Communities have been mobilised to start Positive Living Clubs as a way to look after those who have tested HIV positive.

Extension officers and volunteers have been trained in community-integrated management of childhood illness so that they can mobilise the communities to take good care of their children.

Sanitation campaigns are held throughout the district. Chiefs and local leaders are at the forefront of these campaigns. The chiefs have sanitation practical activities carried out around their homes. The project and the Health Surveillance staff from the Health Department run the practical activities.

The project runs 31 pre-schools with assistance from the community. The pre-schools incorporate activities for integrated management of childhood illness in their programs. A nutritious porridge made from a mixture of maize flour and soya beans is served at the schools. The pre-schools involve parents and community leaders in the running of the schools through meetings and talks about problems at the school and the way forward. At such meetings, chiefs as community leaders urge parents to send their children to pre-schools. Some villages have Child Based Care Centres to cater for 1 to 6 year old children. The Child Based Care Centres offer weighing of children as a service to the community. Parents are urged to take their children to these centres as they help monitor growth of children attending pre-school.

Youths and children’s clubs are active in HIV/AIDS activities. They contribute in HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns through drama, speeches, dances and poems. Sometimes the youths engage in fund-raising activities for a specific cause like raising money for orphans in their community. They buy clothes and other basic necessities for the orphans.

The project runs outreach programs to identify and register orphans in Chiwamba District. The community is mobilised to look after orphans. To raise funds for the orphans, money is collected in "Money collection cans" in the main chain stores in Lilongwe.

12 primary schools participate in the project’s education program. Campaigns to encourage parents to send their children to school are run by the project. Adult literacy classes have been introduced to give adults a chance to be educated. Basic education acquired in adult literacy classes is useful to some families in running their income-generating activities.

Both children and adults are taught ways of conserving the environment. Tree nurseries and tree planting activities are carried throughout the community. Communities are encouraged to plant trees and replace trees lost through cutting for firewood. The community participates in cleaning campaigns to keep their surrounding environment clean to prevent diseases like cholera.

As a way of fighting poverty and providing food security, Child Aid Chiwamba secured 14 plots for use by the community to plant various crops. 6 of these plots are under irrigation. 10 food security income-generating activities run by families were established to use the plots.

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Early Childhood education essential for development

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